Jeb Is Great at Raising Campaign Cash, Even Better at Spending It

Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

Photo by Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images

Jeb Bush entered the Republican race as a fundraising powerhouse. He entered autumn, though, without a whole lot to show for it.

On Thursday, Bush announced he had raised $13.4 million during the past three months—good for the second-most among those GOP candidates who have released their summer fundraising totals so far, but only about $2 million more than he reported bringing in during the first 16 days of his campaign. More troubling for Jeb than that trend, though, is how much cash his campaign has already burned through.

Bush’s campaign reported spending $11.5 million during the third quarter—roughly 86 percent of what it brought in over those three months—leaving Jeb with $10.3 million on hand entering October. For comparison, Marco Rubio, his main establishment challenger, raised only $6 million over that same period but reported having roughly the same amount in his bank account as his better-funded rival does. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, meanwhile, both claim to have more on hand than either of the establishment favorites (third quarter totals via the Washington Post):

Jeb began the year as his party’s front-runner, thanks in large part to two (related) things: his last name and the establishment excitement around his “shock and awe” fundraising strategy. Almost a year later, though, he’s still struggling to figure out how to utilize the former, and the latter is starting to look shocking for the wrong reasons.